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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27638159">In Which the Slightly Forbidden Forest Becomes Really, Really Forbidden</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simplyhopeful/pseuds/Simplyhopeful'>Simplyhopeful</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Friendship, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Forbidden Forest, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:42:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,645</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27638159</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simplyhopeful/pseuds/Simplyhopeful</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The title says it all! The chaotic Marauders change the status of the Forest.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In Which the Slightly Forbidden Forest Becomes Really, Really Forbidden</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Moony, pelase! Tomorrow's the full moon." James said to his uncompromising friend.</p><p>"I'm tired of being shut up in the Shrieking Shack every month. It's cold and it's haunted." Remus answered James.</p><p>Sirius chuckled at this. "Mate, you're the reason it's haunted. All of your spooky howling and scratching."</p><p>Remus shot a glare at Sirius. "Well, maybe I'm tired of haunting the shack. I'm a werewolf. I HATE being cooped up. I'm claustrophobic enough as it is. When I'm fully turned and in that tiny shack, I feel like I can't breathe." </p><p>It was Peter who offered up the best solution to the problem. "What if, maybe, you went into the Slightly Forbidden Forest? The centaurs wouldn't get close enough for you to hurt them and you would have lots of room to roam. We could even go with you to make sure you don't leave the forest!"</p><p>The Marauders had been unpacking their purchases from Hogsmeade, but at Peter's suggestion the other three stopped and stared at him. Peter was obviously uncomfortable under their scrutiny. "Or, we could not do that. It was just a dumb idea."</p><p>"No, no, don't sell yourself short. That was a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?" Sirius said, smacking his forehead with his palm.</p><p>"Because you are a bloody idiot, that's why," James said, reaching out to shove at Sirius' shoulder.</p><p>"But what if the three of you can't keep me in the forest? What if I get out and hurt someone?" Remus protested, worry lines appearing on his forehead like they did so often.</p><p>James caught on to the suggestion. "You wouldn't, not if were in far enough. Besides, you usually listen to us fairly well, even when you're turned. I vote that we try it during the next full moon. If it doesn't work then you'll jsut have to suck it up and continue using the Shrieking Shack."</p><p>Remus sank onto his bed, clearly thinking the idea over. The other Marauders let him. They knew that when he was thinking like this it was better not to disturb hi. After a moment he reached under his bed and pulled out the chart that showed when the full moons would be during the year. He perused it for a long moment before returning it to its hiding place. Then he sighed.</p><p>"The next full moon is tomorrow night. Just promised me you won't let me hurt anyone." He made eye contact with each of the other boys and they all promised that they wouldn't. "Alright, I guess we're doing this."</p><p>Sirius squealed like a little girl and launched himself and Remus to over-dramatically hug him. "Oh, this is gonna be so much fun! Just four best friends, roaming around the Slightly Forbidden Forest. I'm so excited!"</p><p>-------</p><p>"Do we have everything?" James asked. His brow was creased in concentration.</p><p>The four Marauders were lined up in front of the Slightly Forbidden Forest. They were all dressed only in bathrobes, fully aware that they couldn't keep their with them after they shifted. They would leave the robes in a central location where they could get them once they shifted back. </p><p>"Prongs. We do and you know that. You're the one who organized the retrieval of the items," Sirius answered.</p><p>"I just need to be sure. This could end badly if we can't keep Moony in the forest." James scraped his hand through his hair, making it stick up more than usual. Remus flinched, "Can we please not talk about this ending badly? I'd like to think that we can do this without hurting anybody."</p><p>"This will be fine, Moony. Don't worry." Sirius reached over and squeezed Remus' shoulder. "Alright! Let's get this started."</p><p>Together the four walked into the Forest. They had scouted the Slightly Forbidden Forest during their break earlier that day. During that trek they had planted several fires that had been trapped in jars. These could be used to turn Remus back into the Forest. They had also found a spot where they could leave their robes. It was a small clearing next to a shallow creek. The creek bubbled loudly over a series of rocks, so it would be easy to hear and find if they got separated in the Forest.</p><p>Once they reached the clearing, they nodded solemnly at each other and then Sirius, James, and Peter shifted to their Animagus forms. Remus had to wait until the moon had risen, which it was close to doing. As he waited, to keep himself busy, Remus collected the other boys' robes and folded them neatly before placing them on a nearby rock. Padfoot shook his shaggy head at that, but didn't protest. He knew Remus was nervous about having so much room to roam in, even though that is exactly what he had wanted.</p><p>Wormtail scurried over to the rock that the robes were on and climbed up it to sit on the top. He sat there cleaning his whiskers while watching Remus for the first signs of his shifting. Padfoot and Prongs took off into the woods to wait. They would need to be ready to corral Remus if he got too close to the edge of the Slightly Forbidden Forest.</p><p>"Hey, Padfoot. Do you think we actually made a mistake this time?" No matter how many times the Marauders got in trouble, they never admitted to having made a mistake. They would adamantly proclaim that it had been their plan to be caught the entire time. Padfoot knew that Prongs saying this meant he was really worried.</p><p>Padfoot loped closer to his deer friend. "Prongs, listen to me, this is going to be fine. We have a whole forest to roam in. Moony will be fine."</p><p>"I should know better by now, but I trust you." Prongs responded before following Padfoot even further into the Slightly Forbidden Forest.</p><p>-------</p><p>Two hours had passed since Moony had fully transformed. So far he had been easy to corral. All it took was a loud snarl from Padfoot or a direct rush from Prongs to turn him away from the edge of the forest. The jars of fire remained unbroken, and Wormtail busied himself by running from one to another and checking that they stayed tightly sealed.</p><p>"See, you have nothing to worry about!" Padfoot panted to Prongs as he darted past him.</p><p>Suddenly Prongs was on high alert. "Oh, really? Then why is Moony headed directly for the edge of the Forest?</p><p>Padfoot stopped running and lifted his head, sniffing the air. "Oh, dear." With that he and Prongs turned and raced after Moony. </p><p>"Moony! Remus! Please, stop! You've been doing so good. Let's just stay in the Forest, okay?" Prongs called out as he reached Moony's side. "If you try to leave the Forest, I will be forced to do something drastic."</p><p>Moony showed no sign of having understood and continued towards the edge of the Forest. Padfoot's eyes found the line of jar fires and saw Wormtail standing at the ready in front of the closest one. Padfoot glanced at Moony to make certain he wasn't slowing and then let out a howl. At the signal, Wormtail unscrewed the jar, dumped it on it's side, fed a stick into it, and then scampered off to Padfoot who allowed him to climb up into his fur. Together the three non-werewolf Marauders ran back several yards and then turned to see what Moony would do. He pulled up short when he reached the line of fire, but then turned to run around it only to be met by another explosion of fire as the next jar of fire exploded from the heat of the first inferno.</p><p>The three Animagi called out to each other during this: instructions, encouragements, and, in Padfoot's case, a few curses. It didn't take much longer before Moony was safely turned back into the Forest. It was at this point that Prongs noticed that the sun had finally risen and, with a contented sigh, he changed back into his human form. Wormtail and Padfoot saw this and did the same. Together they walked toward the creek where they had left their bathrobes.</p><p>"Well, that was better than you expected." Sirius said as he reached over to lightly shove James.</p><p>James rolled his eyes. "Oh, come off it. You make me sound like a nagging nanny. I was merely concerned.</p><p>"I'm Nany James and I was merely concerned." Sirius teased. "Oh, whatever shall we do."</p><p>"That's funny, Sirius!" Peter piped up.</p><p>"Tanks, Pete." Sirius said, reaching over to ruffle Peter's hair.</p><p>All of a sudden they heard a loud commotion coming from in fron to them. Suddenly, Remus came running full tilt towards them, carrying their robes.</p><p>"Quick! Put these on!" He said, thrusting the clothes at them and then pushing them back towards the castle.</p><p>"Remus, please, what is all this full about?" Sirius said as he nearly tripped over a large root and almost fell.</p><p>Remus just pushed them faster. "Really? We've set fire to a large portion of the Slightly FOrbidden Forest. I think someone is bound to notice. We need to get back inside the castle before anyone notices we were missing."</p><p>-------</p><p>At breakfast, Headmaster Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement. "Greetings, students. As I am sure you are all aware, there was a large commotion in the Slightly Forbidden Forest last night. It is rumored that a deer, werewolf, mouse, and dog were seen running through the forest together. Close to dawn, a fire began that has consumed much of the closest part of the forest. In light of these events, the Slightly Forbidden Forest is now renamed the Really, Really Forbidden Forest. Please adjust your activities accordingly. Thank you."

Before he sat down, the Marauders would have sworn that Headmaster Dumbledore winked at them.</p>
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